§ Mr. John SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to amend the Montreal Convention by substituting(a) incident for accident and (b) personal injury for bodily injury. [136998]
§ Mr. McNultyUnder the terms of the international 1999 Montreal Convention, in the case of death or injury to passengers airlines are strictly liable for claims up to 100,000 SDKs, and may be exonerated only from higher claims if they can prove absence of negligence.
Within such a regime it would be inappropriate to broaden the scope of airline liability by substituting (a) incident for accident or (b) personal injury for bodily injury, and I have no plans to propose amendments to the Convention.
§ Mr. John SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will press the European Union not to ratify the Montreal Protocol until airline liability is extended to include the health of air passengers. [136999]
§ Mr. McNultyNo. In the interests of airline passengers we look forward to the ratification of the Montreal Convention by the Community and by the member states as soon as possible.